Getting useful information from chips inserted in seized drones: BSF D-G

The drone that was gunned down along India-Pakistan border, near Amritsar. (PTI)

“At present, the force does not have a fool-proof system or solution to counter the menace posed by UAVs. However, we will find solutions in the times to come and we are increasingly detecting and killing the drones. The BSF, too, has developed some low-cost technology solutions that help us to mount effective surveillance in the border areas. Similar tools provided by foreign vendors were found very costly and hence we have now in-house developed low-cost sensors and surveillance devices,” Singh said.

He said as compared with the past years, alert personnel are getting more efficient in detecting and shooting down drones that fly from across Pakistan into India. “Last year, we shot down one drone, but this year we have shot down 16 drones along the Pakistan front this year. We are providing some very good monetary incentives to our troops who shoot down the drones even as we are coordinating with the state police forces to undertake patrolling in depth areas,” he said.

Singh said the force was now undertaking forensic study of the seized drones, shot while entering from Pakistan, and they were getting useful information from the chips inserted in them like its flight path, launch pad and destination and the duration of the flight among other things. “We are providing some very good monetary incentives to our troops who shoot down the drones even as we are coordinating with the state police forces to undertake patrolling in depth areas,” he said.

A suspected item in a white-colour polythene was also attached underneath the drone, according to the officials. (Express Photo/Twitter/@mahendermanral)

Singh said robust cyber security was also a major challenge before security agencies like the BSF as he cited the recent example of the ransomware attack on the servers of the AIIMS in Delhi. “Now with 5G technology coming up, we need to be prepared to ensure that our systems are safe. Our force has also improved the defences along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir. A total of 117 forward defence locations have been reinforced or strengthened by providing better housing infrastructure for the troops at those locations,” he said.

“We are promoting dogs of Indian breed and our experts informed us that they have found that the percentage of mistake of Indian breed dogs are less, while the percentage of foreign breed dogs is higher,” he said.

Sharing details of the instances of infiltration by terrorists from Pakistan, Singh said the force is undertaking all efforts to ensure that they cannot sneak in from its area of responsibility. “We will definitely not say that it is not possible (infiltration from Pak border) but we make all efforts to ensure that no terrorist can breach the border. We have undertaken a number of initiatives in this context,” he added.

Singh said the security situation along the Bangladesh border was good but the issue of infiltration by people who come into India without documents remains. “There are continuous instances of smuggling of drugs and weapons along with some small items on this front but overall things have been good. The use of lethal power (weapons) has been drastically down here (India-Bangladesh border) but the flip side is that the criminals know this and they take liberty by attacking our troops. However, the troops are authorised to use lethal weapons in such situations. The government has sanctioned more non-lethal weapons to us for this front,” he said.